


The Beginning of a New End

by Charlesburg



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-14
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-05 07:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/720680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlesburg/pseuds/Charlesburg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in the 21st Century Merlin has waited for Arthur for more than 1000 years but when Arthur returns a new danger threatens the existance of Albion and they must fight to save what they know and love, but they can't do it alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Return

It was a bleak Saturday morning the he woke to the feeling, a feeling he would never ever forget again, it was the feeling of great magic stirring, the feeling of magic itself reawakening. Jumping from bed Merlin excitedly dressed himself in jeans and a deep blue hoodie, his favourite that reminded him of his mother because it was her favourite colour. Hunith had died 20 years after Arthur; finally succumbing to the effects of old age and Merlin had been there to comfort her. Merlin had cried, unable to believe his mother was gone, but it had been the same when Gaius had died, Merlin had mourned for weeks over the death of his mentor and father-figure.

After a hurried breakfast, Merlin jumped into his car and drove; he drove for the best part of the morning before he finally reached the small village called Gulwald which lays next to the lake. The Lake of Avalon or Ava de Rêve as it is now known, why people had to change the names of things into different languages was beyond him, but Ava of Dreams seemed fitting for the gateway to the afterlife. Merlin hadn't visited the lake for a year, due to living and working in London, but tried to visit once or twice a year in the hope Arthur would return. He owned a small cottage, or so everyone thought, on the outskirts of the village that over looked the lake, in the summer he liked to row a boat out onto the lake and just sit and contemplate the past, and his regrets in his long, lonely life.

Parking the car in the drive, he entered the house to find it spotless, just the way he liked it, clean, tidy and orderly. He had bought the house under the disguise of and old man named William, but sadly the old man had died and passed the house down to his grandson Matthew, or that’s what the villagers believed anyway. Merlin had named himself for this purpose after two people from his old village Ealdor, but over the years had used many names, seeing as Merlin was not a commonly used name.

Merlin had decorated the house with many things he had collected over the years, weapons, paintings and books and lots of other stuff. Many of the books were on magic while some on medicine and other various arts of which Merlin had become quite accomplished over the years. He’d also become fluent in most of the worlds prominent languages, including French, German, Russian and he could also speak Latin fluently although he tended not to tell anyone this.

A quick lunch saw Merlin heading down to the lake and to his boat which he quickly had out of the shed and out on the water where he sat and waited for most the afternoon.

.o0o.

Arthur stared into the eyes of his friend as he fell himself slip from the world into a bright white light. He blinked or he thought he did but when Arthur reopened his eyes he was staring into the beautiful brown eyes of a young girl. Sitting up Arthur looked around, everywhere was white like he was sitting in cloud except it wasn’t wet and he didn’t appear to be sitting on anything. Looking back at the girl he gave her a confused look, and she laughed, "What's so funny?" He asked "Am I dead?" But he already knew the answer, where else could he be, if he wasn’t dead Merlin would be here.

"Yes, Arthur Pendragon you are dead." She replied, her voice calm and sweet. It turned out the girls name was Freya and to Arthurs surprise Merlin's lover, he was even more taken aback to find he'd killed her, which he planned to apologise to Merlin … sometime. She taught him the ways of Avalon and of how he could watch the world as it grew and watch as civilisations rose and fell and how science was used to create many new things, all of which fascinated Arthur. 

But most of all he found that he could watch the past, so it was this way that Arthur learnt the truth of Merlin’s trials and triumphs and how he'd protected Arthur to the very end. And Arthur watched as Merlin lived never changing through the ages of the world and how he waited patiently for Arthur's return, he did find it funny though when Merlin sat out on the lake and just spoke. Merlin spoke about how he was feeling and how he wanted back, he sometime spoke to Freya asking to see her, he never did, but Merlin never gave up and this made Arthur want to talk to him even more.

So it was that when the Twenty First century came about, Freya came to Arthur and told him his time to return to the mortal world was drawing near and that in twelve years time he could return to the world of the living. And when that time came Arthur did return.

Arthur closed his eyes to Avalon and when he opened them the shining sun was dimly sinking behind the hills on the horizon, and it was a shocked voice that drew his attention, a voice so familiar. "Arthur! Your back! Oh my god I must be dreaming this can't be real!"

"Merlin, will you please shut up you idiot!" Arthur replied and it was then that Merlin knew his king had really returned.


	2. Explanations

Merlin had been sitting out on the lake for hours, entertaining himself with little magic tricks here and there, but was now beginning to fall asleep. He'd been thinking about his old life back in Camelot and how he wished he could have done something to save Arthur and the kingdom when it fell. He always did that, blaming himself for everything, Gaius would have slapped him round the head for it, and he laughed, Gaius would have hit him around the head for lots of things!

As Merlin began to fall asleep he was woken by a surge in the magic around the lake, standing up he tried to balance in the small boat. Suddenly a bright light shining from nowhere at all caused Merlin to take a few steps back, making the boat to rock dangerously. Blinking away the light Merlin looked to the bottom of the boat in astonishment. Lying there in full armour was Arthur Pendragon, breathing, healed and alive.

"Arthur! Your back! Oh my god I must be dreaming this can't be real!" Merlin yelled in his excitement.

"Merlin, will you please shut up you idiot!" Arthur replied to Merlin's outbreak. Sitting up Arthur looked around and took in his surroundings; he was sitting in a small brown wooden boat on the middle of the Lake of Avalon. He looked at Merlin, who was smiling and nearly crying with delight, he was such a girl ! This thought made Arthur laugh, and Merlin scowl with confusion.

"What's so funny you prat?!"

"Your such a girl Merlin seriously, just because I've been gone for quite a few thousand years, doesn't give you an excuse to cry!" Arthur joked, knowing Merlin caught on to the fact about Arthur knowing how long he been in Avalon and away from the mortal world.

"Yes, it does Arthur, I've waited for over 1500 years for you to return, so don't have ago at me for crying with joy." Merlin replied angrily. "So, how much do you know of the modern day?" He finally asked.

"Everything," Arthur said

"How-no actually I'm not going to ask," Merlin said hugging his knees.

"Well I'll tell you anyway, Freya-" At this Merlin's head shot up. "Yeah, she's nice and it’s sad she um...died." Arthur knew then he had to apologise, so before Merlin could say anything he launched into an apology. "Merlin, I'm sorry, I killed her and I have no idea how you can't hate me for that...I'm just so sorry." 

Merlin looked at him, with tears in his eyes, "I know." Was all he said, before gathering himself and silently lifting the oars and rowing back to the shore. Merlin led Arthur to his cottage, still not saying a word, and Arthur knew he had to give Merlin time to come to terms with Arthur's return and apology. Inside Merlin told Arthur to go up stairs to wash and change into something more appropriate for the modern day.

Downstairs Merlin prepared some food for Arthur and him to eat; he tried to use mostly organic food that he had brought with him from London, but it wasn’t easy with a few carrots, a packet of wilted salad and some cheese. Instead he chopped up some potatoes and oven roasted them, hoping Arthur would know they were supposed to be chips. When Arthur came down they ate in silence for the better part of the meal, and in the end it was Merlin who broke the silence. "So, are you going to finish telling me about your time in Avalon or am I going to be left hanging all night?" He said with a small smile, which Arthur took to be progression.

"Well..." For the rest of the night Arthur explain about his time in Avalon, how he'd watched his kingdom fall to Norman's and how his beautiful wife had died. And how everyone else, the knights, Gaius and Hunith, had died as well, how he watched civilisations rise and fall. How science was used to invent many new things, all of which he wanted to try out or at least have a look at. He also explained how he watched Merlin live and how he heard everything Merlin had said while sitting out on the lake over the years.

Merlin listened patiently and when Arthur was done said "Well, I suppose there's no point in telling you about my time is there?" Both friends went to bed that night smiling, pleased to be back together. But a tiny thought kept nagging a Merlin's mind, if Arthur was back, that meant Albion was in danger, but what was this new danger, and who or what was it?


	3. The Modern Day

Arthur opened his eyes; now that was strange, he hadn’t slept in over 1500 years, there had been no need in Avalon, so why was he waking up now? Then in came flooding back to him, Freya, the lake, Merlin and the twenty-first century, he sat up. The room he had been told to sleep in by Merlin was smaller than his old room back in Camelot, but it seemed Merlin had decorated it to resemble his old room anyway. Pulling off the pyjama’s that Arthur had found on his bed, he walked over to the wardrobe, examining it he found it to be identical to his old one and wondered if, somehow it was. He’d been too tired to look at anything last night, so this morning was going to be interesting, and he was defiantly going to have a million questions for Merlin.

Sighing, he opened the door and picked out some jeans, a white t-shirt and a red hoodie, and, with some difficultly, managed to dress him self. Arthur then went to the little en-suite bathroom and looked in the full length mirror, and was surprised to find the clothes suited him.

When he finally got downstairs, Arthur found Merlin sitting on the sofa watching the news; deep in concentration, in front of him sat a present wrapped in red paper and tied around it was a golden bow. The box it self was rectangular and the name tag, from what he could see said his name, walking over he sat down on the sofa next to Merlin and waited for him to speak first. Arthur watched the news story, it seemed terrorists or something of the like were attacking different parts of the UK, but from the intensity that Merlin watched Arthur gathered something worse was happening than just terrorist attacks.

After the story had finished Merlin broke out of his trance and turned to face Arthur, “Good morning, or should I say afternoon, sleepyhead!” A smile lit up Merlin face causing Arthur the smile too.

“Well it’s not my fault I haven’t slept for nearing 2000 years!” At this Merlin laughed.

“I shall get you some food while you open the present on the table for you,” Arthur had been right, the present was for him. Ripping the paper Arthur stared at the box, “Do you like it?” Asked Merlin from the direction of the kitchen, where he was getting Arthur’s breakfast, or was it lunch? He opened the box and inside found a brand new state of the art iPhone.

“When on earth did you get this Merlin, and where did you get the money?” Arthur asked incredulously, forgetting he already knew where the money came from.

Merlin came back into the living room holding a bowl and glass in his hands, and as Arthur ate Merlin explained going out and buying the phone that morning with some of the money he had gathered over the years. He then took the phone and plugged it in to charge and washed up the dishes, leaving Arthur to watch the TV. When he was done Merlin sat back down next to Arthur and he decided to ask Merlin why he had been watching the TV so intently.

“Theses attacks aren’t random, there’s a pattern that follows smaller attacks over the years, it’s just recently they’ve become more frequent, and they’re creating more damage,” Merlin explained, “I think it’s in connection with certain groups of sorcerer’s descended from druids, that worship different Celtic gods, but I haven’t heard from them in over 50 years.”

“How do you even know about them?” Arthur questioned, not remembering seeing Merlin visit any Druids during his time in Avalon.

Merlin sighed “The Druids call me Emrys, and over the years have came to believe me a god, so after you died, Kilgharrah, the great dragon, told me about the Cult’s and advised me to spend a while with them, learning their ways. The thing is, where they have their headquarters it’s shielded from everybody, and everything,” Arthur nodded remembering the short, blank gap in Merlin’s timeline, “It was after he died I left them to live on my own…and the rest, you know.” He finished.

The rest of they day was spent introducing Arthur to all of the new age things he’d heard of and wanted to try out, and it was quite an hilarious experience for Merlin, if not Arthur, when he was taken by Car to the nearest city of Oxford. Arthur just stared at the buildings and shops amazed, and when Arthur got thirsty Merlin could barely contain his laughter when Arthur spewed the milkshake everywhere and yelled at him, “What the hell was that Merlin?” To which he answered “A milkshake you prat!” 

By the end of the day both of the men were exhausted and when they got back collapsed on the sofa, and Merlin grabbed the remote turning the TV to the news. They listened intently to the report;

Today two more attacks have struck Manchester and Liverpool following the previous attacks on Bristol, Northampton, Nottingham and Cambridge. Less than two hundred people are to have been said to be killed and over forty are missing, police say they will continue searching.

Leaning back Merlin sighed sadly, “Well the final two have joined the fray at last,” He said cryptically, but Arthur said nothing as Merlin got up to get them some dinner, he just continued to watch the news. After the meal Merlin cleaned the dishes and they both went to bed, Merlin fell straight asleep, but Arthur lay awake, thinking about what he had learnt. He finally fell asleep late into the night out of shear exhaustion because he was still regaining his energy from living in Avalon for fifteen hundred years.


	4. Unexpected Arrival

Merlin had fallen asleep as soon as his head had hit the pillow; introducing Arthur to the modern day was like trying to teach an over-enthusiastic child. He dreamed of the day Guinevere had been crowned queen, Merlin had been there offering encouragement before she entered the hall. Arthur placed the crown upon her head and then his dream became a nightmare, Arthur’s skin began to flake and dry out. It turned brown, withering and pulling on the hollows of his face, and then he turned and walked straight towards Merlin who couldn’t move a muscle.

As Arthur’s hand connected with Merlin’s skin, he woke up, trembling and covered in sweat, but feeling as if he’d been resting for days. He lay dazed for a moment, wondering why he felt so invigorated after such a horrible dream. Another surge in the magic around the lake answered his question, he was soon out of bed and dressed in record time, even Arthur would have been impressed.

Running out into the hall Merlin ran into Arthur who was also fully dressed and looking bedraggled but alert and confused. They looked at each other for a moment before running down the stairs and out of the front door towards the lake. In the moon light Merlin could see ten bodies lying, illuminated across the shore, as they got closer he saw one of the figures begin to stir. Reaching the pebbly beach, the female sat up looking around to the men racing towards her, Merlin stopped dead in his tracks.

He was now staring into the eyes of Morgana Pendragon, but beside him Arthur had not stopped, instead he ran straight up to Morgana and embraced her. Merlin, who was completely confused at this point, made his way slowly towards the siblings who were now in deep conversation, as he approached Morgana looked up at him, “Morgana,” He acknowledged tightly.

“Merlin-” Arthur started, but Morgana cut in.

“No Arthur, let me explain,” She stood up to face Merlin, “In the past, I was blinded by hate, a fire lit by Morgause and fuelled by a thirst for power, but being in Avalon, there was nothing to fuel my hate and the fire died out. I see now what I could not see then and am begging you to forgive me because I have forgiven you.” Morgana finished, looking Merlin in the eyes and he knew she was telling the truth, he lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her neck.

“It’s good to have you back Morgana, I’ve missed you,” He whispered in her ear before pulling away as another figure began to stir.

Mordred rose to his feet steadily, but on sight of Merlin fell to his knees and began talking rapidly, “Lord Emrys, please forgive me, what I did in the past was childish and I did not realise how it would affect the future to come,” He did not look up into Merlin’s eyes, but Merlin was wiser now and knew if Morgana could repent her ways then so could Mordred.

“Do not worry my friend; you could not help the destiny you were born with, your path was set by the gods, but now you are free, so rise and begin afresh.” Merlin told the man who was still kneeling on the floor, he now stood, and he walked over and embraced him, and Merlin was glad they could no longer be touched by destiny, only the fate of ordinary men.

Soon the Knights of the Round Table all awoke, happy to see their king and his sorcerer alive and well, but Arthur was impatient for one person particularly to wake up. When she did Arthur and Guinevere where delighted to see each other, and Merlin watched happy for them both, but his attention was drawn to the last two figures lying on the pebbles. Gaius was younger than Merlin remembered; he looked well for an old man, next to him though, was the figure of a girl who Merlin hadn’t had the courage to see since Arthur’s death.

Freya was even more radiant than Merlin had ever known her; she was wearing a pure white dress that hugged her curves, her hair was dark in comparison framing the beautiful face Merlin had fallen for. When she awoke they kissed for what seem like hours and were finally broken apart by a confused Gaius waking and asking where on earth he was.

“Gaius, oh I missed you, “Merlin exclaimed turning and hugging the old man, who, by the looks of things had remembered where was and why he was there.

“I’ve missed you to my boy,” Gaius replied.

Turning back to Freya, Merlin started to ask the question that had begun to form itself in his mind, but before he could open his mouth Freya smiled and answered, confusing everyone else, “Yes Merlin, my soul is tied to Avalon, but the world is in great peril and the gods have sent me to aid you.”

“Does that mean your staying for good?” He asked hopefully.

“It is undecided,” Was all she said.

Merlin stood up, pulling Freya with him, and turned to face everybody else, who was trying to make their own conversation and not pay attention to the couple, but it wasn’t successful. Merlin laughed, “Come on, let’s get you back to mine and changed into something more appropriate.”

So they all made their way up the path to Merlin’s cottage, where he directed the females to one of the spare bedrooms, where he kept extra clothing in case this ever happened. He then sent the knights to the other two where they also found clothing, carefully chosen for them, this actually amused Arthur some what, trying to imagine his manservant- no friend buying clothes for people he never knew would return.

They all later found themselves sitting around Merlin’s living room while he was in the kitchen making sandwiches for everyone, when Percival entered; Merlin was surprised but didn’t say anything waiting for Perce to speak first.

“Merlin, there is something I need to tell you, something I probably should have told you long ago, I-” Merlin saved Percival the trouble of voicing it.

“It’s alright, I know,” Merlin answered, and Percival visibly relaxed.

“I think I should tell the others.” Percival said suddenly, and Merlin nodded, picking up the plates and carrying them into the living room, Percival followed nervously. He placed the sandwiches on the table and looked at the fire lighting it with a flick of his wrist, he then went to sit next Freya, giving her a quick peck on the cheek, before turning to Perce and giving him a slight nod.

He cleared his throat nervously; everyone was looking at him now, “There’s something I should probably tell you all, I should have told you in Avalon but I just couldn’t, anyway… I… My parents were druids and I may um… have magic…”


	5. Sleeping Arrangements

Silence filled the room, everyone holding a collective breath, waiting for a reaction, seconds seemed minuets; minuets, hours as time stretched on, it was Arthur who broke the silence. Jumping from his seat he stormed from the house out into Merlin’s garden, where he took deep soothing breaths trying to calm his whirling mind.

Inside everyone was still quiet, Merlin got up and walked over to Perce and clapped him on the shoulder, “It’s alright, I’ll go and talk to him, he just needs time.” Outside, Merlin found Arthur sitting on the low wall that ran around the outskirts of the garden; he was looking out onto the lake, where the moon shone down brightly.

As he got closer to him, Arthur began to talk, “Why is it that everyone refuses to tell me anything?” He asked confused.

Merlin smiled, “I think you know the answer to that.”

“Am I really that unpredictable?”

“No, you’re just Arthur; it’s your upbringing and what you where taught that people are scared of, nobody can be sure of your reaction, especially when it comes to magic.” Merlin told the king, sombrely.

“You knew didn’t you,” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah, but not because he told me, I can sense the magic of other people.” Merlin explained. “Come on, your going to have to talk to him sooner or later.” He prompted trying to get a reaction from Arthur.

Arthur didn’t budge, “My strongest knight turns out to be a sorcerer. Why is it, everyone I know betrays me, Morgana, Lancelot, Gwen, Agravaine Mordred, and even you. Now one of my best knights turns out to have magic as well!” Arthur exclaimed.

Merlin sighed, “Arthur, not all of them betrayed you, Morgana, Mordred and Agravaine, yes. But I didn’t, Percival hasn’t and Lancelot was brought back from the dead by Morgana to take Gwen away from you using a magical bracelet. So please, go and talk to Perce and apologise, his magic isn’t even that strong, I bet he doesn’t even know any spells.” He tried again, and this time Arthur sighed and followed Merlin inside.

***

Percival was disappointed, he’d hoped after all this time in Avalon, Arthur would be slightly more forgiving, but alas he still felt betrayed that another one of his knights had magic. While Merlin was talking to Arthur the rest of the knights were drilling him for details, luckily though he was rescued by Freya and Morgana, who understood what he was going though. Gaius wasn’t saying much, but seemed deep in thought, so everyone was leaving him alone, the door opened and the two men re-entered.

Merlin went to sit next to Freya giving her another peck on the cheek leaving Arthur standing awkwardly by the fire, where he could be seen easily by everyone. Percival just waited patiently, hoping Arthur had found it in his heart to forgive him. “Err… Merlin tells me that I err… should…um apologise.” Arthur started hesitantly, “So… um… oh for goodness sakes why is this so difficult?” Arthur asked frustrated. “Anyway, Perce, I don’t mind if you have magic, so long as you only use it for good.” He slurred quickly.

Standing up Percival walked over to Arthur and shook his hand, “Thank you, and if you must know, I actually know near to nothing about magic, only that my parents had magic and the gift was passed down.” Perce informed Arthur, who looked slightly reassured.

“What happened to your parents, why didn’t they teach you?” A curious Gwaine asked.

“Um… they were killed by Knights of Camelot when I was 5 and I grew up with a family in a village under the influence of Camelot.” He explained sadly.

“Why on earth did you become a Knight of Camelot then?” Arthur asked incredulously.

“Well, I don’t know really, I didn’t want revenge for my parent’s death, I just wanted to help people with my strength and becoming a knight seemed like a good idea at the time.” Perce shrugged.

“Am I the only one wondering why we’ve all come back?” Gaius asked suddenly, and there was a round of confused looks from everyone apart from Merlin, Arthur and Freya, who already knew the answer to Gaius’ question.

Merlin knew he would have to explain before the night was out, but before he got even got the chance Arthur butted in, “Well basically there’s these six groups of sorcerer’s who worship the Celtic gods and they’re attacking each other causing a whole lot of damage to cities all around Britain.” He summed up cheerily.

“Right,” Merlin stood up, “It is extremely late, and we’re all tired. Let’s all get to bed.” He said trying to get off of the subject; he wasn’t quite ready to tell everyone what else he knew about the sorcerer’s.

“Where are we going to sleep?” Gwen asked.

“Well you’re going to sleep with me,” Arthur said, pulling Gwen to him and kissing her.

“I will set up your beds, Gaius you will get one of the rooms in the attic and the knights will share the other. Freya and Morgana you can have the spare room on the 1st floor next to Arthur’s and Gwen’s,” Merlin answered as if he’d had this planned since the day Arthur had died, he probably had. They all headed off to their designated rooms yawning and longing for a warm cosy bed.

Perce went up to the attic where they had got their clothes from earlier, and found the empty room now had six beds facing each other across the room. The small room at the end of the attic now also had a bed, and Perce began to wonder where Merlin got all of this stuff. Mordred and he took the two beds opposite the other four beds that were now occupied by Leon, Gwaine, Lancelot and Elyan.

On the first floor Freya was preparing for bed in the spare room she was sharing with Morgana, putting on some pyjama’s she walked across the landing to Merlin’s room. Inside there was no one, instead there was a door open at the other end of the room. Entering she found Merlin sitting at a desk, typing furiously on a computer keyboard. When he saw her he turned it off got up and walked up to her.

“You should be in bed,” He told her, wrapping his arms around her neck and leaning down to kiss her, “Come on we’ve got a lot to do tomorrow…or is to today?” Smiling at each other they both went back to their respective rooms. Arthur meanwhile was lying in bed kissing Gwen, their clothes were strewn over the floor and both lay naked, having not being able to touch each other for the last 1500 years. 

When the whole house had fallen asleep, Merlin, who was no longer tired, lay in bed, working out how on earth they were going to destroy six groups of sorcerer’s under the influence of the Celtic gods. Arthur would have to use Excalibur, that was obvious, what worried Merlin, was would they have enough strength and magic to destroy all of them?


	6. Aithusa

Freya took one last look at her love before she re-entered her bedroom, where she found Morgana sitting on one of the beds reading a copy of the book La Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, written in Latin. Closing the door behind her, Freya went and sat on her bed watching Morgana read intently. “Where did you get that?” She finally asked her.

Morgana took a while to answer, “I found it in Merlin’s library,” She stated, putting the book down and looking at Freya. During their time in Avalon, they had becomes great friends, and one of the reasons Morgana had let go of her hate was because Freya had bonded with her and gave her someone to trust with her feelings. Luckily, they were still friends now they were back in the mortal world, and Freya hoped it would stay that way, and Morgana would not re-animate her hate and try to destroy the people of this world.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Merlin has a library, but isn’t that stealing?” Freya asked jokingly.

“No, because I going to return it, so technically it’s borrowing, anyway, you should go and see the library tomorrow, because he has got a serious collection down there.” Closing the book Morgana placed it on the table next to her bed and they both lifted the covers and delved in between the warm sheets. Eyes flashing gold the light switch flicked off and the two women fell in to deep sleeps dreaming of nothing, while their bodies recovered from the sudden fact that they were alive again.

***

Everyone woke up late the next day, they probably would have slept longer but a frantic knocking at the door roused them from their warm cosy beds, and forced them to dress and head downstairs to see what the fuss was all about. Merlin, being the first to awake, opened the back door to find a little white dragon sitting on the steps, staring at him with it’d head cocked to one side.

Yelling to the others, Merlin brought the young dragon in through the kitchen to the living room, where everyone was gathered, waiting for Merlin to appear. On the site of the dragon Morgana ran forward towards the dragon, “Aithusa!” She exclaimed happily, when the dragon saw Morgana, she did something unexpected by everyone, she ran forward with her wings out stretched and hissed at the witch. 

Hurriedly, Merlin shouted a command at the Aithusa, who stopped and looked at her master confused as to why she was being stopped from harming the evil witch. Morgana was frozen in shock; she hadn’t seen the dragon since the battle at Camlann, but couldn’t figure out why she would attack her like that, she looked to Merlin for answers, but found none.

Arthur meanwhile was utterly shocked; he knew Merlin was a Dragonlord, and had seen him use magic, but hearing the man talk in this strange new tongue, although he wouldn’t admit it, slightly scared him. The man he thought he once knew was now a complete stranger, even though Arthur knew everything about him, Arthur still felt as if he’d just met the man. He thought of the old man on the hill who saved the day at Camlann; that had been Merlin, always in the background, saving them from harm but never receiving any gratitude. Now though he could, his secret was out, but they would all have to start afresh to rebuild their previous relationships.

He watched as Merlin controlled the dragon, but also saw how Morgana’s face twisted in pain and anger, making Arthur wish he had Excalibur, even though it would do no good, and was mentally kicking himself for leaving it up stairs. Once Merlin had the dragon calmed and under control Morgana risked asking Merlin what was going on, “MERLIN!” She yelled, “Why, did Aithusa attack me, did you put her up to this, because if you have-” Her threat was cut off by Merlin using his calm voice, meaning one thing; he was extremely angry.

“Morgana, if dare try to accuse me of trying to kill you, I will banish you from this world, insuring you can never return.” Merlin, in Arthur’s opinion, sounded so much scarier than Morgana ever had, and began to wonder again how he had never figured it out. “Aithusa attacked you because she does not remember your friendship, she has been reborn, not returned, and if it weren’t for me she would have killed anyone with magic who ran towards her like that.”

“Can I-”

“No Morgana. I can be the only one who talks or trains her, if not the same thing will happen as last time, is that what you want?” What he said was so smooth it silenced Morgana, so she could only nodded her head in understanding. “Right, I must take Aithusa to the cellar, could one of you please make some breakfast, and please, don’t burn down the house!” On that happy note Merlin took the small dragon into his library and out of site.

“Well that was interesting.” Gwaine said cheerfully, breaking the silence, “Now, who’s for breakfast!”

“Gwaine,”

“Yes,” He answered innocently.

“You are not making breakfast.” Arthur said firmly.

“Oh but-”

“No. Gwen, could you make us something please, and what ever you do don’t, anybody, let Gwaine near the kitchen.” Arthur instructed the rest of the group, as Gwen made her way to the kitchen. Pouting, Gwaine sat down at the table, and was soon followed by everyone else, as they waited for some food, no one noticed Freya sneak off into the library.

***

Merlin, was confused, he had no idea where to start, how was he supposed to teach a fledgling dragon how to talk without any assistance from another dragon or someone who knew how? After fifteen hundred years Merlin had never dreamed he would have to teach a dragon, since they had been extinct for over a few hundred years, Aithusa had died very young for a dragon due to the fact she was deformed and weak.

The cellar was massive, split into three rooms, each for different things, the first was full of magic books, he had loads of books up in his library, but he kept all of his books full of spells or potions. The second held all of his alchemy equipment and other appliances used for making potions of different kinds, and the third was smaller, but Merlin used it to practice new spells he might come across or to just practice in general, he also used it to store weapons, well the ones that weren’t decorating the house. That was where he was now, trying, in vain to teach the over enthusiastic dragon.

Foot steps alerted Merlin of someone else entering his cellar, turning he found Freya standing in the door way watching him talk to the young dragon. “You’re going to have to tell them you know,” She said.

“I know but…” He trailed off unsure what to say.

“Come on you’ve got to tell them now, I’m sure I can look after Aithusa.” Freya insisted. “I am the Lady of the Lake; a dragon has to obey my command, even if I am not a Dragonlord.” She said answering Merlin’s look of protest. Sighing he walked past her giving her a quick peck and re-entered the main house, where he found everyone sitting at the table, waiting for breakfast.

“Err…guys, there’s something you should know about the evil sorcerer’s,” He had everyone’s attention now, “They are kind of immortal and the only way to kill them is using Excalibur, the only problem being I’m not sure we have enough strength to defeat them all…”


	7. "Now the fun begins!"

Gaius was surprised by the sheer intensity of Merlin’s library, shelves were crammed with books spanning thousands of topics, what Gaius found interesting though; there wasn’t a single spell book. He made a metal note to ask Merlin about it later, now though they were all gathered taking in the information Merlin had gathered and attached to a pin board on the only free wall of the room. When Merlin had told them of the sorcerers immortality questions had sprung to everyone’s mind and Merlin had had to show them his research in order to answer them all.

On one side of the board was a map of Britain, divided into the seven kingdoms of Albion and in each kingdom had a post-it note stuck in the centre, one word was written in each. Closer inspection showed them to be the names of the six major gods; Belenus, Don, Andraste, Math Mathonwy, Arawn and Llyr, the only kingdom not to have a god was Wessex, where Camelot used to be. Confused Gaius pointed this out to Merlin, and really wished he hadn’t, “Well to tell you the truth, Wessex has got a god, but I just haven’t put it up,” He explained cryptically, confusing Gaius even more.

“Why not, what’s their name?” Arthur asked.

“Emrys,” Merlin answered, causing everyone to take a collective gasp.

“You’re a god?” Morgana scoffed, “I’m a High Priestess, I think I would know.”

“Nobody can know every thing Morgana,” Merlin told her calmly.

“You seem to know a lot,” She retorted.

Well I have been around for over 1500 years, and who do you think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based the character Sherlock on?” He added almost as an after thought, surprising everyone again, and causing Gaius to feel extremely out of the loop. Not only was Merlin a god he was also Sherlock bloody Holmes, was there anything else he forgot to mention? At that though Merlin turned to face his mentor, “There are plenty of things you don’t know Gaius-”

“Stop reading my thoughts!” He exclaimed causing Merlin to laugh.

“I’m not, your face is just predictable; what did I just tell you about me being the most famous detective in history?” Merlin raised his eyebrow. “Anyway, we will need to leave for Sussex immediately if we are to stop the sorcerers from destroying Albion, we will then travel to Kent, Essex, East Anglia, Mercia and finally Northumbria.” He pointed to the other side of the pin board, where a route was planned on another map using red thread, “First though, the knights and Gwen will all need weapons, follow me,” 

He led them to a hatch in the floor at the other end of the library, down a set of stairs they found themselves in another library; this one though was full of magic books, answering Gaius’ previous question. Not stopping, Merlin continued into the next room, which was full of equipment, Gaius could have spent all day looking and learning but Merlin continued into another room. Here they found Freya talking to the young dragon, which was sitting on the floor; three of the walls of the room were lined with weapons of all different kinds. There were swords, shields, maces, guns, spears and many others, each with different models and makes; it was the last wall at the end of the room that was the most interesting. The whole wall was covered in black scorch mark, as if someone had thrown fire balls at it repeatedly; unbeknownst to them, it had.

Suddenly, a cry resounded around the room as the young dragon spotted her master; running at him with her wings outstretched, Aithusa yelled, “Daddy!” Before pouncing on Merlin and knocking him to the floor.

Once the young dragon was finally settled, and Merlin had recovered from the shock, everyone went to the walls to begin the search for a weapon or in Gwaine's case weapons. Merlin refused to let him take more than three, but secretly, though no one mentioned it, they knew he took more. While they were busy arming themselves Merlin was talking with Freya about Aithusa and what they were going to do with her when they left, of course Freya insisted that the dragon had to come, and Merlin thought she'd get hurt or in the way.

In the end it turned out Aithusa would not be left behind so she was put in the boot of Merlin's car while everyone else got in the front of the three of Merlin's cars, and settled down. It was going to be a long journey.

***

The House of Eternity in Sussex was a school, well more a college, but as we pulled up outside the kids could be seen walking across the courtyard of the old mansion it had been converted from. Driving through the gates we parked the cars in the car park and walked into the reception area, where the rather kind old receptionist directed us to the headmistress’s office. Inside her office we found her sitting in her leather swivel chair, she wore a tight grey suit and wore a pair of spectacles on the end of her nose, while she surveyed us.

"You're here about the attacks?" She asked, noting our weapons.

"Yes, we would like to ask you if you wouldn't mind stopping them." Merlin started but she began shaking her head.

"You see, that's not possible, my...counter parts shall we call them, won't relent their attacks and so we must continue to fight back, so unless you can stop them from attacking we can not just, stop." She explained looking at them hopefully and hoping they would leave her alone to run her school in peace. Unfortunately for her they had different plans, they new she would refuse, so raising his sword, Arthur advanced forward. "You c-can't kill me..." She stuttered, not liking the look in Arthur's eyes.

"Actually, he can," Merlin explained calmly as Arthur swung Excalibur, cleaving her head straight off.

"One down another thousand to go!" Gwaine stated cheerfully, at that moment a kid walked in the door and on sight of her dead headmistress screamed and ran, yelling about crazy guys wielding swords. "Now the fun begins" Gwaine said raising his sword and running out in to the corridor, yelling 'Death to the immortal sorcerers!'

"I hope he didn't mean me!" Merlin told Freya with a small smile before following Gwaine out in to the corridor, where he found a bunch of kids, eyes golden and preparing to fight, they didn't get the chance, before Merlin had them all on the floor, unconscious. The fight went on for ages, the students turned out to all have magic and to be pretty decent fighters as well, but against the Knights of Camelot, a High Priestess, a god, a physician, the Queen and the Lady of the Lake they had no chance, they were only children after all.

After the fight had been won and everybody had been destroyed they all found themselves back in the cars, heading to Kent and the House of Waves where the followers of the god Llyr resided. It was another long journey.


	8. Onwards

It flew though the air, heading straight for its target, it was going to hit the man directly in the centre of the back, but all of a sudden its direction changed and it found it self lodged in its owner’s stomach. He fell to the ground, blood pouring from his abdomen as his body slowly closed down and died from the fatal wound, but then the immortality kicked in and he felt the wound begin to heal. Soon he was able to sit up, and grabbing the knife that had fallen to the floor, he ran at the enemy, but before he even got close the sword wielded by the enemy cleaved his head from his shoulders and he knew no more.

"That was a close one I thought that knife was going to hit you," Merlin told Arthur who was standing and watched the last body of the immortal sorcerers from the House of Waves, fall to the ground dead. Nodding Arthur knelt down to clean Excalibur on the lawn of the garden they had been fighting in, once he was satisfied it was clean he sheathed it and looked at Merlin, with a thoughtful expression. "What's on your mind?" He asked.

After a moment of thought Arthur relinquished what was on his mind, "All these people we're killing, could-couldn't you just order them to stop? Surely you have some power over them, being a god?" He asked confused.

"If I did that then a whole war between the gods would break out, it would destroy the world, and I can't risk that," Merlin explained sadly. They began walking away from the old retirement home where they had been surprised to find the lair of the sorcerers who worshiped the god of the sea, Llyr. In the car Arthur was still lost in thought and Merlin began to worry about him, if he was having doubts now before they'd even destroyed half of the Houses what would happen if he refused? He was the only one who could wield Excalibur.

We travelled for half a day before we reached Essex, where the followers of Andraste, the goddess of truth and war resided in the House of Youth. It turned out the bases just got cooler and cooler; when we arrived we found an army air base, full of armed soldiers and machinery. "How on earth are we going to take these guys?" Asked Gaius, when they all met in a park about a mile from the base.

"I don't know, surely there’s a way though, there’s got to be; Merlin?" Gwen asked the man who had been lost deep in thought.

"Well if we all assign partners, each with a magician they can watch the others back a then we just hope for the best I suppose," He answered shrugging as if he didn't care they were all probably going to die. "If I go with Arthur, Morgana can go with Gwen; Gaius with Leon; Percival with Gwaine; Mordred with Elyan, and Freya with Lancelot, then hopefully we can beat them." They all dispersed back to the cars.

"You're going to do something stupid aren't you?" Arthur asked the man he thought he knew but was beginning to understand again.

"Probably," He answered with a cheesy grin.

"Just don't get your self killed," Arthur told Merlin.

"I can't die," Merlin replied sombrely.

***

They took the House easier than expected, when they were collecting what evidence they could, nobody saw the man, or woman who fired the gun, but everybody heard it. Merlin was the first to react, he slowed time and ran to where the bullet was heading, Arthur. He stood in front of it and released his hold on time letting the bullet hit him square in the chest. Everything was silent, nobody moved, then every thing moved at once, a scream from Gwen brought Merlin out of the shock and he stood there looking own at his chest.

Suddenly everyone was crowding around him and he managed to croak out, "I'm fine, someone get the sorcerer before he escapes," He then reached down and grabbed hold of the bullet that had lodged itself in his chest, pulling it out the wound left behind closed up immediately and he breathed out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. Soon Elyan and Mordred came back dragging the General of the base between them, and Merlin began talking, "Luckily for you I managed to take the bullet, but if one of these, "he gestured to his friends, "had been hit, your death wouldn't be as painless."

"Who are you?" He asked confused.

A sigh of annoyance escaped Merlin's lips, "I am Emrys" He answered, making the General gasp, shocked that he was in the presents of the most powerful being ever to have walked the earth. "Goodbye, General." He said as Arthur raised Excalibur chopping his head cleanly from his body; then Merlin collapsed on to Freya's shoulder, "Somebody else can drive," he said, before falling asleep in his girlfriends’ arms.

***

Old Hunstanton on the coast of what was once East Anglia, now called Norwich, was about a mile from the site where Merlin said the sorcerers were residing. It was getting late so they decided to get a room in a hotel on the out skirts of the village, everyone was exhausted, so once they ate their meals everybody went straight t bed. As soon as their head hit the pillows everyone was asleep except Merlin ho spent most of the night worrying what was to come.

The next morning saw everyone heading towards the House of Envy, home to the followers of the god Math Mathonwy; he was the god of revenge and sorcery, it was this fact that had everyone worried. Merlin told them that because the god they followed was the god of magic it meant their magic was stronger, and more powerful than the others. He also told them that the base they were supposed to be heading for was not exactly accessible either; it was on a muddy silt covered beach, probably covered by the sea at this time.

Luckily for them the sorcerers only met there when it was possible; today they would be meeting in the Hustanton Golf Club, where Arthur knew it would be easier to ambush them. They got into the club easily enough, but their leader, a big man called Arnold, soon noticed them and just as Merlin had predicted, everything turned pear-shaped. They were outnumbered almost five to one.

They fought for ages, Arthur dodged parried, slashed and decapitated the enemy, he may not have practiced with a sword in over 1500 years but since the first house they'd defeated, the memories had come back swiftly. Suddenly two enemies ran at him from both sides, unsure who to attack first but, preparing to fight anyway, when unsurprisingly they were both blown back and Arthur could see Merlin disappearing back into the fray.

Soon nearly a quarter of the original number of followers remained and we made swift work of chopping all their heads of insuring they could not come back, even though I was using Excalibur; you can't be too careful, according to Merlin. After they were all dead, it was Gwen who found the dying body of Morgana Pendragon; on sight of her wound Merlin let out a roar of anger and promptly disappeared, leaving Gaius attending Morgana.

"Where has he gone?" Arthur asked, not caring who answered.

"To the Palace of Math Mathonwy."


	9. Journey's End

Black smoke swirled around him as he headed toward the huge wooden double doors at the end of the corridor, eyes flashing, the slammed open and he stormed into the room and straight up to the black throne. It was weaved from hawthorn, and in his opinion, looked extremely uncomfortable, but the man sitting upon it looked perfectly comfy, unsettling him. He stopped a few feet from the base of the pedestal the throne was mounted upon, and glowered at the man, who was smiling knowingly, but burst out laughing at his expression.

The man was Math Mathonwy, the God of Magic, Jealousy and Revenge; he was wearing a long black trench coat over a white tunic and black skinny leather biker trousers. He wore chunky black lace up boots, and his hair stuck up like he'd been repeatedly electrocuted, if he had, he thought, I would love to congratulate them, he wryly smiled internally as to not give Math the satisfaction of being the joker.

"My, my, if it isn't the young Myrddin, the walker of men, what brings you to my establishment?" Math asked still smiling.

"I may be young compared to you but, I am so much more powerful, so, Do. Not. Test. Me." He pronounced each word separately, his tone threatening, "You have taken claim to the soul of one of my friends and I have come here to ask you to kindly give her back, because I would really hate to have to banish you for a couple of centuries..." He let the threat hang in the air.

"No need to get your knickers in a twist-you know I've always wanted to say that...anyway, my claim on your friends soul has just been released, you will find her alive, safe and well...probably..." He trailed off lost in thought.

"Thank you, but I must return now." Merlin told him.

"Oh, but won't you stay for some tea or coffee, I sure we can find something,"

"No thank you. Goodbye." He turned on his heel and walk back towards the double doors, not seeing the sly smile spread across Math's face.

"Goodbye Myrddin," The doors slammed behind him and he vanished in a white puff of smoke that ate through the black like acid, burning away skin or tables. Reappearing he landed slightly away from where the group surrounded Morgana's now recovering body, walking over, he ignored everyone's curious questions, and laid a hand on Morgana's head. His touch caused her eyes to fly open, creating more gasps from behind; slowly she sat up, coughing and blinking away the bright light from her sleepy eyes.

"What happen-Oh my god I was stabbed, then there was this man dressed in black and white, laughing at someone I couldn't see...then I just...woke up here. Merlin, what happen-" She stopped when she saw the looks of concentration and anger come over his face; then he hissed and cried out in frustration.

"NO! I am going to kill him the lying bastard, why, why, why..." He trailed off drained by his sudden outburst.

"Merlin what's wrong, who are you going to kill?” Asked Arthur, confused.

Ignoring him, Merlin turned to Morgana, "Feel inside you, feel for your magic..." She did as she was told feeling for the usual glow of magic within her, but couldn't find it. Panicked she looked at Merlin, pleading with her eyes, for him to tell her it wasn't true, "Morgana, I afraid Math Mathonwy has taken your magic as price for your release." More gasps came from behind as Morgana shook her head, trying not to believe a word of it, but knowing it was true; she had lost her magic and she was never getting it back.

They headed outside, everyone in a sombre mood and the bright surprisingly sunny weather didn't reflect the atmosphere that surrounded to group. Once they were in sight of the cars, Aithusa ran towards them, leaping about happily, until she saw their faces; her attention was drawn to Morgana and she pounced on her knocking her to the ground. "Aithusa!" Merlin exclaimed angrily, but she just stared him down and turned back to Morgana, who was now unconscious on the floor.

After a long examination she turned back to Merlin and spoke in his mind, because she was not yet a confident enough speaker, "Her magic has been taken by an evil source, there may be a way to return it, but I will need your permission my Lord..."

"I've told you, don't call me Lord, it makes me sound important," Seeing the look on Aithusa's reptilian face he said, "You know what I mean, but please, anything you could do I would be grateful and I'm sure she will be too," Then out loud Merlin spoke to group, "Aithusa might be able to do something, so just step back and-you know..." They did as they were told and the little dragon took a stance over the body; and then she breathed from head to toe over Morgana, a silvery mist coating her body.

Aithusa swayed on her young legs, but stayed upright, which was a good thing, he hoped. "We must get her in the car, she will awake when she is ready," Explained the dragon before walking back to the boot of the car, curling in to a ball and falling asleep instantly.

"Right; Perce, Arthur help lay her in the back of the van, we must be on our way," They obliged, not wanting to question the situation, and soon they were all strapped in and heading towards the next base of evil sorcerer's in Birmingham, Mercia. Morgana woke sometime on the A50, and they stopped in Stoke-On-Trent, to get some pain killers for her pounding headache, where the knights also found a hunting shop and topped up on ammo.

A restaurant; that was where The All-Fathers followers had made their base, Merlin almost laughed at the simplicity of it, but did laugh at Gwaine's idea. He suggested that they book a table (because all the knights were really hungry) and attack them individually, putting the bodies in the bathroom, stacking them on top of each other. After a few tweaks to his plan (namely where to put the bodies) they booked the table, and set to change in to some clean clothes from the rucksacks in the back of the van.

An hour later they were all seated around a large table, situated, much to Gwaine's delight, close to the toilets. Their plan was simple-ish, they were to, one by one, leave for the toilet but instead head for different areas of the restaurant; first was the CCTV cameras. Mordred volunteered to do this while Gaius distracted the receptionist, who was promptly killed once the cameras were down.

Merlin then headed off to the bathroom for the next part; ensuring the room was clear he began his chant, "Néahlæcan sylfum aldgeddung, áwerian þes bæcern. þing sé umwemmend æt ácumendlicnes, ac álíefednes sé þegnweorud sylfum Bes bearm."(1) Finishing the spell that would trap the evil sorcerers, Merlin took a deep breath before returning to his seat, where Arthur looked at him worriedly, "I'm fine." He lied, because really he was exhausted, not because of the spell, but because he knew his time in this world was coming to a steady close.

The finale of their plan fell to Morgana and her acting skills, she was to set a magic fire in the bathroom, before running through the building setting off the fire alarm and yelling at everyone to get out. Once outside we watched as the magical fire consumed the building, we listened to the screams of the dying sorcerers inside without remorse. In the distance Merlin could hear sirens getting closer, "We need to go." He finally said, and they got into the cars and drove on in silence.

***

Mordred had always hated Northumbria; something about the magic in the air seemed to put him on edge, as if it was trying to see into his very soul, eating at his secrets until he was left exposed and vulnerable. He shook of the feeling and starred at the building in front of him; the place was composed of three white circular buildings joined together. On the front doors were the words, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Merlin didn't seem very happy by this and a nasty string of swear words escaped him lips.

"You know, I just realised something..." Said Arthur.

"And what would that be?" Merlin said sarcastically, Mordred decided to keep quiet.

"You swear a lot these days." Arthur replied with a smile, and Merlin grinned, "Now, how are we going to get in there, kill all the bad guys, and not trash the place?" He asked on a more serious note.

Picking up the radio that connected to the other two cars, Merlin spoke to the other drivers; somehow he had managed to get licenses for them all, and taught them to drive, in about 10 mins tops. Mordred wouldn't have been wrong if he had guessed a bit of magic had been involved, and had decided to let it slide and focus on their quest; but he wanted to learn how to do that, and much, much more. 

Mordred followed Merlin and Arthur as they got out of the car and headed towards the building, the others trailed behinds taking in the architecture and vastness of the hospital. The lobby was quieter than expected, and after talking to the man at the desk, Merlin came back with a grin on his face, which was a good sign. He led them down a corridor to an elevator and pressed the top button, and they began their descent to the bottom on the building.

The followers of Arawn, the god of the dead, were in a meeting down in the basement where the morgue was; according to Merlin no-one else was down their, so there was no danger of killing innocent people. A ding sounded and the elevator doors sprung open on to an empty but well lit corridor; quietly as possible they drew their weapons and walked towards the door labelled 'Office'. The door flew open and they emerged carrying a variety of weapons.

"So we're not invited to tea then?" Gwaine asked, and the fight began.

Mordred raised his sword and plunged it into enemy #1 he then pulled it out and sent the man hurtling towards Arthur who proceed to cut off his head with Excalibur. The fight went on like that, the knights, females, Merlin and Gaius sending Arawn's followers into the path of Arthur and his deadly blade. A nasty brute, big, muscley and wielding a grime covered axe headed straight towards Mordred and he barely had time to register the attack, before he was pinned down on the office table just managing to keep the axe from his throat.

Struggling he tried to push of the attacker but to no avail and didn't consider using his magic until he gear Merlin's voice in his head, Oferswing, (2)repeating it out loud, to Mordred's delight, the brute flew across the room straight on to Arthur's awaiting sword. Adrenaline flooded his veins and he let his magic free, knocking down the remaining sorcerers and silence suddenly filled the office and corridor.

"Well done mate!" Gwaine said patting him on the back as he watched Arthur destroy the unconscious followers; they had finally done it the world was peace, at least for now!


	10. The End of a New Beginning

Merlin stared out over the lake, watching as the sun set behind the hill and the water seemed to turn gold, ironically the colour of magic. They had got back yesterday evening and were currently waiting for Gwen to finish cooking the BBQ the knights had insisted they tried; the scent of cooking meat wafted over to his nostrils. Footsteps approached from behind, "We're all going to have to go back you know." She told him.

"I know, but I've been living in the world for such a long time Freya..." He trailed off, last in thought.

She sighed, "Merlin, gods aren't supposed to live in the mortal world-"

"Yes, but I was born mortal, wasn't I?" Realizing how harsh he was, he apologized, "Sorry."

"Merlin-"

"Do they know?" He asked.

"Yes." Was all she said.

Together they walked back to the group and sat down, waiting to taste Gwen's fabulous cooking; Merlin tried to shake off the looks the others gave him. "We have to go back, don't we?" Gwen's voice was came from behind as she carried the food towards them; the others looked at him expectantly, but he just nodded in confirmation. They ate in silence, no-one in the mood for talking anymore.

The food was great, and once they'd thanked Gwen and everything was cleaned away; it was time to go, "What about the house?" Questioned Leon and Merlin just age him a half-hearted smile and whispered words of the Old Religion and the house, drive, garden, everything shimmered and vanished, leaving a green field behind.

"It was never really here," Was all Merlin said, before silently leading them all back down to the Lake, the place where this whole adventure had begun. They all stood in a row; Gaius, Leon, Elyan, Lancelot, Freya, Merlin, Aithusa, Arthur, Gwen, Morgana, Mordred, Percival and Gwaine; looking out over the water. Simultaneously they all walked forward, into the water, just as the sun disappeared behind the hill and they vanished from the mortal world, heading for a better life in Avalon.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"TWO WEEKS! You were gone for two weeks and I haven't heard a thing! I would have thought you were dead, but because you’re so annoyingly immortal I knew you couldn't be!" He shouted, not caring who heard, "Where were you?" He added.

Merlin sighed, "Oh! And it's nice to see you too!" Arthur glared at him, waiting for an answer, "Ok, ok, I was at my palace if you must know!" That wiped the angry expression off of Arthur's face.

"Your palace?" He asked

"Yes, palace, big tall castle like thing with turrets and-"

"I know what a palace is Merlin!" Arthur interrupted, "I just meant-"

Merlin sighed, "Take a joke clotpole! Sheesh, anyone would think you were stupid!"

"Merlin-"

"Alright, alright. Yes I have palace, and yes you can go there, but first we've got to find the others, where are they?" Merlin questioned.

Arthur just raised a very Gaius-like eyebrow, "You’re a god, shouldn’t you know?!"

"Well as a matter of fact-"

"Enough, the both of you! Seriously, you’re like children who don't know any better!" Freya scolded both of them, and then added, "Were all in the house." Before walking off back the way she had come. Following, the boys entered Merlin's house, the one Merlin had apparently transported from the mortal world straight into Avalon. Inside Merlin made sure everyone was present before telling them of his palace and how for the past two weeks he had been finishing it off so that they could all move in.

Excitedly they all followed him out of the house and across the garden, where they all, apart from Freya who knew the way, were teleported to Merlin's palace or castle if you prefer, because that was what it was. In fact it wasn't what anyone expected at all, instead of finding a magnificent palace with treasure and gold; they found an exact replica of Camelot.

Merlin took the chance while everyone was silent to explain himself, well sort of anyway, "I couldn't let it go ok? Besides its not all the same, there are...slight modifications..."

"Like what? May I ask?" Arthur said, turning around and raising an eyebrow.

"Well it’s a lot cleaner and there’s no more draughts, plus, and this is my favourite part, you-" He pointed at Arthur, "Are no longer King and can't put me in the stocks! Also there are slight changes to the throne room; namely the fact the throne is mine not yours!" As he explained this to Arthur he could see the other mans face turning redder and redder.

Gwaine slaps Arthur on the shoulder, "Well better luck next time mate, why don't you come and take some of that built up frustration out on the training field?" He suggested.

"Oh I'm going to take out my frustration alright." He replied, suddenly swinging Excalibur seemingly out of no where, straight towards Merlin; but met the resistance of a strange looking sword that materialized in Merlin’s hands. He pulled back surprised, but quickly lunged back into the fight; parrying back and forth with Merlin, whose sword work had improved immensely, but Arthur still seemed to have the upper hand.

That was proven correct when, two minutes later, Merlin's strange sword was flying out of his hand and through the air; but then it stopped, freezing mid-air. It then flew straight back into its owner’s hand; who proceeded to send Arthur's sword flying through the air and into a tree where it sunk almost hilt deep. Merlin them pointed the tip of his sword at Arthur's throat, "Do you surrender sire?" Merlin asked him sarcastically, while offering out a hand that was magically grasping Excalibur.

Arthur glanced at the tree to find it unmarked, "You are a mystery wrapped up in a riddle aren't you Merlin!" He exclaimed, and then wrapped an arm around the warlocks shoulder and walking off in the direction of the castle, "Now about that throne..."

As their voices faded into the distance, the others, who had been watching the spectacle, all shook their heads in amusement, "Their never going to change; are they?" Gwen said fondly.

Freya smiled as she watched her love 'trip' over, "Nope, I don't think they will!" She replied, as they all laughed at Merlin's clumsiness, even gods could loose their footing sometimes, right?

The End!


End file.
